Air Crystal
by Alex114
Summary: Alex is a seventh grader living with her older brother.With a family that rejects her, strange dreams of another life and an unusual appearance, she begins to wonder; "Who am I and... am I mortal?"
1. I Suffocate my Bus Driver

Chapter 1: I suffocate my bus driver

The days before Christmas break are supposed to be more relaxed, right. Well, with my luck, I end up scratched up and fighting for not only my life, but my friend's as well. I… should probably start over.

I'm Alex Moore and I'm not your average seventh grader. I have to get my dark brown hair cut about every two weeks, or it'll be down to the floor (thank goodness for part-time jobs). My eye color… well, you'll hear about that later. The guy who was unconscious was Jason Kudo, the resident "tough guy"; he looked the part, too. His skin was tan from spending so much time outside with dark brown hair and eyes so dark you could barely see the difference from his pupil and the color. He was muscular from mixed martial arts training and basketball. His personality fit, too; He'd snap practically instantly, and he had no troubled speaking his minded, which is why most of the teachers in the school hated him with a passion.

Anyway, as I said before, it was the day before winter break was weird. But, then again, that entire week was pretty weird. Not only were they calling for this massive snow storm, it was poring rain the entire week. It wasn't just the weather; Jason was acting pretty weird too, well, more than normal anyway. He was acting really… protective; I guess is the word for it. He'd always be really cautious when we are outside at the bus stop and he'd always hold me up at the bus stop at the end of the day long enough for the usual string of cars to pass. But that day he was particularly tense; as we were standing at the bus stop, talking like usual, but he kept glancing around, as if he was expecting something to pop out of nowhere. When the bus finally pulled around the corner, Jason snapped his head around, glaring as the bus drove down our street. He immediately protectively reached for my arm, pulling me away from the direction of the bus.

"Hey, what's your deal?" I said, a little freaked by his actions. I'd never seen him in a fight before, but I could tell he was preparing for one. "Chill out, I know you hate school, but you don't have to glare at the bus." Being the smart-aleck I am.

"It's not the bus I'm worried about; it's something on the bus." He had said it so low that I was barely able to understand it. And the acidity, ugh, it was so…daunting. "I don't want you to sit up next to Holly; follow me to the back." I would have normally protested being anywhere near the back of the bus, but the tone of Jason's voice told me that this was a dangerous situation. I nodded in reply, suddenly getting the dangerous feeling that I'm sure Jason was feeling. It felt like eternity before the bus finally pulled up. Slowly, Jason led me up the bus steps, careful of whatever he was feeling. Two creepy things I noticed about the bus that day: 1) was wearing a ball hat, covering her eyes; 2) nobody else was on the bus. As me and Jason made are way to the back, Jason getting tenser and tenser as we passed each empty seat. We were barely in the last two seats when ripped out of the neighborhood an on to Route 30.

"J, why are we the only ones on the bus?" I asked, hearing the anxiety creep into my voice. No answer; just a side glance that told me he was thinking, which means I had a long wait before he would listen. He was mumbling to himself too, like he was mentally debating something; "Not now… not ready…can't help…" Before I had to, again, question what was happening, the bus jerked hard to the right, nearly slamming me into the windows. This caught Jason's attention, snapping his head up to check on what was doing. We had pulled into one of the back alleys, like a normal bus route... Not that it was the right route, but a route none the less. Jason obliviously noticed the difference and immediately pushed me further into the seat, tossed my book bag onto the floor and promptly took its place. But Ms. Gale didn't stop at the next stop, nor did the kids there even notice the bus flying past.

I turned to Jason, probably looking very distressed. "Okay. What the heck is happening? Don't I get to know that much?" I said trying to sound calm, but it wasn't working very well. Jason side glanced at me, then back at Ms. Gale.

"Look," His voice was low and serious, all the while watching our bus driver take the unusual route, "I don't have time to really explain this…Alex you're not normal."

I stared at him like he was an idiot. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"No, I mean your not who you think you are." I gave him one of my famous what-are-you- saying-and-why looks. Clearly annoyed, he said "Look, that woman at the wheel isn't our bus driver, that's , it's Echidna. "Another famous look was the "you-must-take-me-for-an-idiot".

"Are you telling me that our bus driver is an anteat...muuuph." Jason had slapped his hand over my mouth, cutting off the word "anteater".

"Don't say that!" He hissed. "Do you know how much trouble we'd be in if she heard you?"

"Sssss…sssss…ssssss." that both made us snap our heads towards the front, only to see woman without legs. And in place of those legs was a single snake's tail. And she was tick off; slowly, almost tauntingly, slithered (I guess) back toward us. With everything slowly processing in my ADHD mind, one thing was clear.

She'd definitely heard me.

I suddenly felt Jason push down on my head, making sure I was protected by the seat in front of us. He immediately went for the emergency exit, only to find it jammed shut. He then pulled his iphone out and started punching in a code that didn't look like they were in English.

"Jason, I don't think this is a good time to make a phone call." I was seriously beginning to question my sanity.

"If only it were that simple." Then he showed me what he had typed, and I was right, it wasn't in English. It was Ancient Greek.

"What does…_Oplo Metatrepo_?" Translation for those who can't understand Greek: "weapon metamorphosis". Me? I had no idea why I knew what it said, not at the time anyway. Though it did make sense by the time I noticed that Jason's phone was a handgun. Now I was really ready to freak out. And had I been on my own, I might have.

"Whatever happens, stay down and don't let her see you. And as soon as she's completely distracted, make a break for it." I looked at Jason. He's got to be kidding me.

"So you're basically telling me to run and save my own life, while you stay here and fight this thing alone? And as for not letting her see me, I think it's a little late for that idea." He knows me better than to suggest something like that.

"Yeah, but the way I said it is much more heroic." He said that as he gave that smug and cocky smirk. Only he could be like this in the face of danger.

"If I called you an idiot now, how many times would that make it?" I said, Jason's confidence boosting my own.

"Today, one; this week, about 9." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He could be such a smart aleck, and at the worst times.

"You really think I'm going to leave you here by yourself."

"And if you stayed, how could you help?" He got me one that one; I wasn't very coordinated, even after my brother gave me martial arts lessons. So me being able to help, chances were slim.

"Good question. I'll figure something out, don't I always?" It was his turn to roll his eyes. He hated it when I was right, as I often was.

"Alright, just don't get yourself killed, Moore." Jason said as he aimed his gun, causing the snake lady from up front to stop and reconsider her options.

"Right back at you, Kudo." I knew the only thing I could do was try and figure out how'd we could both get out alive.

First thing to do when making your escape route, assess all possible exits. That was the easy part, considering every other window was an exit. The hard part, figuring out how to get to one. The closest one happened to be four seats ahead, blocked by snake lady up front. The only thing playing our way, that fact that Jason had Echidna distracted and I knew it wouldn't be that way for long. I, if anything, clumsily started to climb over the seats, trying to reach the emergency exit window. Unfortunately, Jason noticed. He said my eyes always look different when I'm thinking hard and he must've been right. Instead of yelling at me for being reckless or making things more difficult then necessary, he just made sure Echidna couldn't see me. That only left me the task of noiselessly making up five seats. Easy, for the kid not on an adrenalin rush. I do not handle pressure well, but somehow I had made it to an emergency exit. I pushed down the handle and set off the fire alarm. This was apparently was more interesting to Echidna than a worn out Jason.

Muttering and thinking many swears that would burn my brother's ears. I quickly began trying to figure out how to open the window. Desperately I rammed the window with all the force I could muster and nearly fell out. Triumphantly, I turned to find Jason, but instead I found Echidna ready to strike.

"Don't think your getting away ssso eassssily, Earth Child." She hissed at me, bringing down her weapon. I braced waiting for whatever pain she might bring, but instead I felt something heavy hit my chest. It was Jason, with what had to be a two foot gash down his chest. With a mix of fear and anger, I put Jason on the seat and charged at Echidna. I didn't care that I was up against something twice my size with a deadly weapon, or the fact that the chance that I would accomplish anything were slim, but I was running on pure adrenaline. I was on my own to fight. I landed a punch squarely in Echidna's chest, knocking the breath out of her. Literally. Her hands flew up to her throat as if she was choking and soon she was nothing more than a pile of dust, blowing out the window.

I turned my attention back to Jason. He was completely unconscious and breathing heavily. Coming down off of the fighting rush, I realized that I had to do something about his wound. Digging though my discarded backpack, I found the bottle of water I kept for chorus practice. Using a handkerchief that my brother had always made me carry, I tried to clean the wound. But something weird happened to it each time I wiped over it. It would stop bleeding and the skin closed up. And by the time I had finished the only proof there had ever been a cut was a scar and the fact that his jacket and shirt were now in shreds.

Tiredness washed over me like a blanket as I sat Jason up into what I hoped to be a more comfortable sitting position. Taking a seat of my own, I tried to figure out what to do next, but I was too exhausted. Slowly, I began to close my eyes, ignoring the sound of voices getting closer to the bus.

.


	2. I am Claimed

Chapter 2: I am Claimed

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that the bus moving. Initial reaction, _Oh no,_ _not another monster_. But to be perfectly honest, I was too tired to really care. And the atmosphere (I think) was different; it didn't feel like I was in danger. In fact, I was rather comfortable leaning against someone. Lazily, I looked up to check who it was, and immediately tried to sit up-right.

"Ah, I see Sleeping Beauty as awoken." Jason said mocking my sleepy state.

"Shut up, Jason." I said tiredly, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. He always came up with the most ridiculous names.

"Um…sorry?" Another voice replied. I looked across to another seat. A boy about 15 sat there, looking a little surprised.

"Jason", pointing at the one next to me, "and Jason." pointing at the boy in the other seat. He nodded. "And who's driving?" turning to face the front, I found a girl about 16 or 17.

"I'm Annabeth." She looked into the mirror and smiled. The first thing I noticed about her was her eyes. They were an amazing shade of gray, with glints of extreme intelligence and…sadness, I think.

"Anyway, where are-oh, wow! We're in New York." I had looked out the window just as we passed a sign that said 'Welcome to New York'. "So how did we manage to drive 5 hours in a Maryland school bus and not get pulled over?"

"This isn't a real school bus; it was shrouded by the Mist. It's actually a charter bus." Annabeth replied.

"Okay…why New York?"

"We're heading to one of the safest places for kids like us."

"For runaways?"

"No, for demigods." Annabeth looked back to see my reaction. I had wide-eyes and on 'o' for a mouth. I looked at Jason for an explanation, and I never heard him talk so much before, not that my constant questions helped.

"So, you think one of my parents is a Greek god? That can't be right." I sighed, leaning against the window. I think we had crossed into Long Island by then.

"Why?" The new Jason asked.

"Because I _had_ two parents." I said.

"Wait, you 'had' two parents?" Jason Kudo asked.

I turned to look at him. "You never noticed? Jason my parents haven't been around since I was 3."

"Why?" He can be so clueless sometimes.

"Because their dead, Jason." Everything was extremely quite.

"Oh, Alex, I'm sorry." Annabeth said.

"It's not that bad. I don't remember a lot about them, but my brother wrote a whole bunch of these sayings and jokes my parents used to say; so they really aren't gone." I had to smile at the last part. My brother was Mathew Moore and extremely overprotective, but only caring if I was okay and happy.

My brother…I thought, soon I sat up straight. I started digging in my pockets for my phone.

"You okay?" Jason Kudo asked.

"Yeah, but if my brother finds out we neither of us made it to school, he's going to flip." I said, stressing out.

"I already called him. He knows about everything that happened so far." He said taking my phone and slipping into my backpack. "Besides, I think you've got bigger things to worry about."

"Like what?" I had highly doubted that things could be worse. But, as usual, I was wrong.

"Look up." He said pointing and staring above my head. I looked, and there was a glowing blue trident and the Earth, like a miniature globe floating over.

"Annabeth, Jason, I believe we've found Percy a little sister." Jason Kudo said.


	3. Oh My Goddess

Chapter 3: Oh My Goddess!

(Jason Kudo's POV)

"Some things have such amazing timing." Annabeth mumbled. "Lucky for us, we're here."

"Here? Where is here?" Alex asked.

"Alexandra Moore, welcome to Camp Half-Blood." She turned in her seat and motioned to a hill with an extremely large pine tree. As we headed up the hill; the camp quickly came into view. There was a volleyball court with campers in orange T-shirts and satyrs goofing off, nothing unusual. There was an area of cabins that was almost like a squared off oval.

"Is that a ship with a dragon's head?" Alex noticed a looming ship that was nearly complete with a bronze dragon head.

"Yeah, once it's finished we plan on sailing to Greece." Jason spoke up. "But first we're heading to the Roman camp."

"Wait, there's a Roman camp too? And you're sailing to Greece, like, the one in Europe?" She looked as if her head was going to spin. "This is weird."

"And its about to get a lot weirder for you, Alex. Chiron's heading our way." I said, pointing toward him.

"A centaur." She stared up at the man (from the waist up, at least) in his late 40s in a tweed jacket. "So, you're THE Chiron…wow." Alex got that dangerous glint in her eyes like she was ready to drill Chiron for his entire life's story.

"Chiron, you might want to hear what happened before Alex starts spazing." I said, pushing an amazed and stunned Alex towards the Big House. Living up to its name, the blue and white building stood tall not far from the hill.

"So, to sum up everything, Jason's been 'watching' me for roughly 3 years. Out of nowhere, the giant snake lady, whose name we can't say, decides today was a good day to try and kill me, and my dad is Poseidon." Alex said. After a long summary of what just happened, and she sums it up all in a sentence or two. Typical.

Alex and I had been taken into the Big House to explain what occurred; Annabeth and Jason had gone to their respective cabins to rest. Alex suddenly turned towards me. "So, why was it necessary for me to be watched?" She asked, looking like she doubted the intentions.

"I had to uh…well…Chiron, you explain it." I didn't really want to explain it, not that the reason I had to watch her was bad, I just couldn't really remember. I knew I had to keep her out of trouble, but other than that I had no clue. Chiron, now in his wheelchair, shifted uncomfortably.

"We had originally sent a satyr to your school, but he quickly sensed not only Jason here, but an extremely strong presence of a child of the Big Three. We had assumed that it was safe for the satyr to monitor you, but in quickly became apparent that another demi-god was needed to keep you safe." Chiron explained. Alex seemed to still be confused, staring down at the table.

"What happened that made you send another demi-god to watch me?" She looked up, wide- eyed.

I stared at her. "You mean you don't remember?" She shook her head.

"The Mist is a powerful thing. And after such a powerful storm, it's not surprising that you not remember." Chiron said.

Alex stood abruptly, slamming her hands on the table. "What happened? What did…what did I do?" She looked up, her eyes reflecting the lights above us.

I looked at Chiron and he nodded. "Alex, you might want to pull your chair back up and sit down." She did.

"Back in the fourth grade, when that older kid took your favorite fan, remember? The fancy one your mom gave to you? The girl had been waving g it above your head and when you tried to reach for it, she knocked you over and started to walk away. The school started to shake, and part of the ceiling fell on her."

I paused. I had learned just that past summer about the Olympians and was asked to watch Alex. "Only later did I realize that that what got trapped under the ceiling was a _lamia, _a demon that preyed on children. I think she took your fan to make you her next meal." I stole a quick glance at her. She had her palm pressed to the side of her face, as if she had a headache.

"That memory, it's fuzzy. Like an out of focus camera." She muttered, dazed. Suddenly, she swayed like she was going to pass out, but I was able to grab her arm and lean her against the chair.

"I'm sure that all this is very confusing. Jason, would you mind showing Alex her cabin? I believe there is still a little time before lunch." Chiron said, standing to his full height. "The tour of camp could be conducted afterwards."

I just nodded. Alex stood shakily, took a deep breath, and looked at me.

"So, where exactly is my cabin?" She was clearly worn out, but still kept smiling.

We walked in silence towards the cabins, and as we passed the arena, I hoped that my cabin was still practicing. But, of course, I could have no such luck.

"Jay! Who's the newbie?" I heard someone holler to me from behind.

"Good to see you, too, Clarisse." I turned, looking at my half a dozen half brothers and sisters. The one who had called to me was one of the bigger girls, with straggly brown hair. She turned to Alex.

"What're you staring at?" She was challenging Alex; this was not going to end well. I hoped Alex would stay sensible and say something without sarcasm. Again, no such luck.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." Alex said without even blinking. Clarisse's face grew red. Alex was always good at running her mouth, but it often got her in a lot of trouble. She turned to walk away, but Clarisse grabbed her arm and spun her around. Alex quickly yanked away and stared at her. Then she smiled.

"So tell me, Clarisse" Alex took a step closer until she was right in front of her, "what makes you think you have the right to touch me?" Alex was still smiling, but it was a malicious smile, like she knew that she was messing with Clarisse. Clarisse raised her fist to hit Alex, but by the time she had swung, Alex was gone.

"You coward, fight me!" Clarisse yelled.

"Is a fight what you're looking for?" Alex had turned up behind Clarisse and had poked a part of her spine. Clarisse turned, but Alex was gone again. This time she fell from above and poked at Clarisse's shoulder. She made a grab at Alex, but she was already on the ground.

"You're going to have to be faster than that." Alex was mad. She hates fighting. She'd only let her brother teach her Mixed Martial Arts as a form of exercise. And it was to late when I realized what Alex had planned. Finally, Alex knocked Clarisse on her head and Clarisse fell like a tree. (A/N: DON"T TRY THIS. I have no clue if it actually works).

"What…I can't move! What did you do, you wretch?" Clarisse wiggled against the ground like a snake.

"Don't worry. It's only a trick; it won't last real long, maybe ten minutes." Alex said in fake concern. She turned to face me. "Now, Jason, weren't you going to show me to the cabins?" As if on cue, a conch shell sounded announcing lunch. "Well, I guess this means I get to see the mess hall?"

"Actually, Its more of a pavilion." I said walking up hill towards said pavilion.

By the time we reached the top of the hill, most everyone was there. My cabin carried Clarisse part way up the hill before she could walk again. Everything seemed normal.

"Why is everyone taking the plates to the brazier?" Alex asked pointing to the line that had already formed.

"Burt offering to the gods;" I said, "every cabin has their on table yours is the empty one." I pointed to one closer to the brazier. She nodded and walked towards it. Almost immediately a wood nymph set down a plate and a goblet for her. I sat down at my table, loaded my plate and took it to the brazier. Alex was a few people ahead. She dropped in some of her apples and muttered something. I did the same, and for most of the meal things were normal. That was until Alex screamed. Everyone turned around in their seat and stared Alex, hanging up side down by a vine that was slowly cocooning her.

"You just can't seem to staying out of trouble, can you Moore?" I yelled up at her. She glared down.

"Hey Kudo, how about more of telling me how to get down and less sar-mmm!" The vine had now covered her head, and hopefully it wasn't suffocating her. Before anyone could draw a sword, the vine swung violently so, I think, Alex was now right side up. A voice could be heard from the hole at which the vine had sprouted.

"_Relax my daughter. I'm just bringing out your true self. I only wish to have my daughter with me." _The voice was sleepy, like it just woke up. _"Stop struggling, I let you go in a moment." _ With that the vine quickly disappeared, leaving Alex suspended in the air, before plummeting back down. I rushed to catch her, but her body stopped and gently floated down to me. And her clothes had turned to a white, thin dress.

I gasped. Alex was asleep, but her short brown hair had grown to be about as long as she was tall, and it was silver. I don't mean my grandmother's hair silver, I mean metallic silver. I turned to find Chiron standing behind me.

"Take her back to the Big House. My worst fear has been proven. Alex is a goddess, daughter of Gaia herself."


	4. Protector?

Chapter 4

Protector?

(Still Jason)

I liked to say that I got Alex safely to the Big House, she slept, woke up, and things went back to normal, but that is not what happen. Apparently, the earth goddess wasn't done with her daughter.

We had to pass close to the canoe lake to get from the dining pavilion to the Big House. But as Chiron and I passed, Alex draped across my arms, something shot from the lake and wrapped itself around Alex's waist and legs. As quickly as it appeared, the vines pulled her down into the lake.

"Chiron!" I ran as I shouted and soon heard Chiron galloping behind me. The minute I reached the shore of the lake, I jumped in. The lake was ridiculously cold, but wasn't frozen over, so I could still make it back up. The only problem was making it back with Alex.

I continued to dive down, forcing my eyelids to stay open in the murky water, until I saw a form twisting in the water. Alex had been pulled down by seaweed, which was now wrapped around her fragile neck and waist slowly strangling her of the little air she had. She was grabbing franticly at the stuff around her throat, desperate to loosen the seaweed's grip. As I got to her, I grasped the seaweed to rip it off, but it was tough and slippery, so it took a few tries to release the one around her waist. I knew I had to work fast, because here struggles were getting weaker and her eyes closing, slipping into unconsciousness, again. Finally managing one good pull, I was able to free her, grab her around her waist and swim up. I felt something yank me back down to see seaweed around my ankle and slowly creeping up. Not good, I thought, being low on air, nearly numb, and Alex was doing much worse. She seemed to be in a daze.

Suddenly, she looked at what was holding us down, held out her palm toward it and clenched her hand. The seaweed dissolved, and she raised her arm up towards the surface and we shot out of the water and on to the shore. I coughed and shook from the cold, thankful for no longer being underwater. Alex was back in unconscious; she wasn't coughing, but she was curled up and shaking violently. I looked up and Chiron was standing over us. I caught the scent of wet horse.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help, but I can't swim well with hooves." He clopped nervously, looking down at Alex. "We can get the blow-dryers and…"

"No, I don't want to freak out the others. I dry off myself and Alex the normal way. Is it okay if I take her to the Big House?"

"Of course. But before you go, I do hope you know that we now have to determine someone as her permanent protector." He said, concern and weariness blended into his voice.

_Protector?_

I didn't really understand, but I was more worried about getting Alex warm. So, I picked her up and began the walk to the Big House. I stopped at the Ares cabin to grab fresh clothes for myself and towels for both of us. Once we reached the Big House, I did my best not to hit Alex's head against the railing and door frame as I took her into a spare room. Alex wasn't shaking as violently, but she still shook. I lay her on the bed and did my best to dry her legs and arms. Alex is small, about the size of a sixth grader, but she looked and acted as old as a high school student, so it was hard to tell her real age if you didn't know her. After I dried her off as best I could, she was still shaking. I changed and wrapped her in the extra blankets.

I stood over, thinking about how to keep her warm, taking off her glasses and taking out her contacts. Then I remembered something my mom once told me. _The best way to warm the body is with another body. _I face palmed, thinking about how most demi-gods die fighting, when I realized that she had a better chance of causing my untimely demise. Reluctantly, I sat Alex up as best I could; knowing if she ever found out how easily she would flip. I pulled her close the best I could without exposing too much of her, almost wrapping her in as cocoon of blankets. _This is so weird_. A little while later, Alex had finally stopped shaking, but her lips were still blue. I sat there a little longer debating on what to do next, but I accidently fallen asleep, exhausted from everything that had happened.

I know this is really short, but I have a serious case of writers block and it took me over a month and a half to think this part up. As always reviews are appreciated. A friend of mine helped me revise this.


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